Archive for February, 2006

So, here I am sitting at the airport waiting for the boarding to start for my flight home. What better time to blog my trip. :)

Monday/Tuesday
I left the freezing cold of North Idaho and boarded a lovely Southwest plane to fly to Portland. It’s Southwest, I’ve been trying to get used to them, it was, well, it was Southwest. From Portland I boarded American Airlines to head South and East to sunny, warm Florida. :) (No, I wasn’t a little excited to anything LOL.)

Now comes the exciting part of my trip out. I got to fly FIRST CLASS! :) I had accumulated enough frequent flyer miles that I was able to get a FREE first class ticket. It was an AMAZING flight! A full, HOT breakfast in the morning, a full HOT dinner (with RIBS!) and wine. Yummy. First class is definitely the way to travel….I think I’ve spoiled myself a little too much. :)

Wednesday
My friend Gena (who I was visiting) and I drove up to visit another friend, Lianne. We had a blast, I got to meet Allen, Lianne’s son and he’s an absolute cutie. :) We spent the morning hanging around the house and left in the afternoon. After getting to Lianne’s we left to go to the beach (because I wanted to put my feet in the ocean. :) Well, we had a little problem on our way to the beach….we were following Lianne and she got into a tiny accident. She was really frustrated but we just hung around until that was cleared up then headed off to eat dinner. Finally, we got to the ocean. :) It was amazing. I realized it as the first time I’d put my feet in the Atlantic. That was a treat. I got some awesome shells to give the girls in my youth group and walked along the beach a little. Most important, for me, was I got to hear the waves crash.

The waves at the beach are what I miss the most about not going to the ocean any more. The great expanse of seeing how massive the ocean is and hearing the power behind the waves and knowing there’s a whole world down there that I can’t see is astounding to me. I think that of all places on earth standing on the shoreline looking at the ocean is the place I feel closest to God. It makes me feel powerful yet powerless. Great yet so small. I love standing there and seeing before me the wonderous works of His hands. :) So, the one thing I really wanted to do was accomplished. Not to mention I got to do it at night which just happens to be (in my opinion) the best time to stand at the waters edge.

Thursday
Gena and I spent some time around the house then left to go south for the Women of Faith conference (the actual reason I came out — although definitely not the best part :)) We arrived at our hotel, checked in then drove out to the convention center for the first night of the conference. We took a wrong turn and were a couple minutes late to the conference but we ended up not missing anything but the crowds. :)

The first night we got to do some Praise & Worship and got the hear Patsy Clairmont speak and a mini Amy Grant concert. Patsy Clairmont is, I think, my favorite speaker from the WofF speaker team. This was the short night so we were only there for about 2 1/2 hours. We stopped for dinner on the way back to the hotel and, unfortunately, chose a restaurant that didn’t have the best food. It was a good thing I wasn’t too hungry (although, I guess if I had been starving I would have eaten it despite the taste).

I think the only thing bad I can say about the entire weekend is that Gena and I both love to talk. And, two big talkers together makes for late, LATE nights and not much sleep. LOL But, it was fun. :)

Friday
Gena’s pregnant and Friday morning she had her first bout with morning sickness. :( That put us a little late in leaving so we decided to skip breakfast because Tammy Trent was singing that morning and I really happen to like her. It just so happens that Tammy is Gena’s mom’s best friend’s daughter so Gena (I think LOL) enjoys listening to her sing also. So we left to get to the center on time and :( Genas car wouldn’t start. So, unfortunately, it was a good 2 hours later that we finally got to the convention center. Unfortunately, quite some time after Tammy did her first and only :( time on stage. We were able to still see the Avalon concert and listen to Max Lucado and Luci Swindoll speak so the day was great. Max Lucado is an awesome speaker. I’ve heard of him a lot but realized I’d never heard him speak. I’m really glad I was able to.

When the conference was over for the day we decided to go to the mall for dinner. Only the mall was HOT and HUMID and stunk something horrible. We ended up leaving and just going back to the hotel. Finally, at about 8 we decided to get something to eat and ordered something for delivery. It was pretty yummy…we treated ourselves to a “healthy” appetizer assortment.

We then chatted for a bit…OK, more than a bit we chatted until 2AM. Which wouldn’t be so bad but we had to get up at 7AM (yes, I woke up at 7AM and to astound you even more please remember that it was 7AM Eastern time which means I woke up at 4AM Pacific time — some sympathy sounds would be good here). So we woke up a little after 7AM but still with enough time to get to the conference on time.

Saturday
The first speaker for the conference was Robin McGraw (as in Dr. Phil’s wife). Now, you have to understand, I like Dr. Phil but I’m not a huge fan. Although you wouldn’t know it from how excited I was to see his wife speak. LOL What I was really looking forward to was seeing Dr. Phil sit in the audience supporting his wife like she does for him. So, when she got up and he wasn’t in the audience I was FURIOUS. Her talk was great, I really enjoyed listening to her. But, he redeemed himself when he surprised HER by coming out at the end to walk her off the stage. He’d been backstage the whole time supporting her, she just didn’t know it. In hindsight I think that was better because there was a huge roar from the crowd when he came out and I think him being out the whole time would have distracted people from listening to her.

We also heard Marilyn Meberg speak, saw the third sketch by Nicole Johnson and got to listen to Anita Renfrow. Anita Renfrow is HILARIOUS. If you have a chance to hear her sometime, go. You’ll laugh so hard. But, she also has a great message. The whole event closed with a concert by Steven Curtis Chapman. It was a great concert! I haven’t listened to him in a while except what comes on the radio…it was nice to hear some of his new stuff…think it’s another CD I need to buy. LOL :)

From there we headed back to Gena’s with a stop at her mom’s and at the mall for dinner and some shopping. Quiet night back at her house.

Sunday
We slept in (trying to make up from too much talking the prior two nights <>). Woke up and I packed my stuff to head home. :( We left and went to grab a bit to eat then hit the shoreline again. It was pretty windy with a bit of a chill so we ended up leaving the beach before too long (but not before I picked up more shells) and headed to the airport. We did drive some through some nice parts of town to see some of the houses.

So, my trip was awesome. I can’t wait to come back again to defrost from the cold Idaho winters. We’ve already planned a trip to the Keys next time….so I think I’ll spend next February defrosting on the beach in the Florida Keys.

Till later…


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Barlowgirl - I Need You to Love Me


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My church had a night of worship tonight so I went. It was such an amazing experience an hour of singing praises to God for no other reason that because we have a GREAT, AWESOME God to sing praises to. I am so glad God led me to this awesome place to worship Him. The path to get there was different but He got me there quickly and amazing things are happening in my life because of it. I haven’t felt this blessed to be The Kings Princess in such a long time.

It was exciting to have laid out before me this evening a sampling of some of the friends I’ve made in the few short weeks I’ve been going here. I found my co-leader for the youth group (which is not small feat in a church of this size LOL) and was able to worship with her. After leaving (of course we talked for a while and I was introduced to someone else) I was walking through the lobby and heard someone call my name. If I had a common name I would have ignored it but my names not so common so I look around. Sure enough someone was calling me. This was another woman that I’ve met a few times recently and we talked. It totally made my day that she took the time to talk to me. I DO HAVE FRIENDS!!!

I’ve also contacted the singles pastor to find out about joining a small group. I prayed a lot this week and decided it was best if I stopped going to the Bible study I’ve been going to. I’ve been feeling like I’m stretching myself too thin and feel that joining a small group that has a focus on building relationships as well as being in God’s word is more important for me right now than being in an intense lecture/study.

So, it’s Saturday night and I’m leaving for Florida on Monday. I’m so excited! It’s been so stinking cold here that I just can’t wait to get somewhere warm. I’m looking forward to a week away, putting my feet in the water and squishing my toes in the sand. But, I know I’ll really look forward to coming back home. I’m also really looking forward to the Women of Faith conference. It’s going to be so amazing! It doesn’t start until Thursday so I have all day Wednesday (I actually arrive in Florida Tuesday night) to enjoy the ocean. I actually miss it SO much. I just want to hear the crash of the waves, feel the spray on my face, and smell that sweet salt water. The ocean is such a powerful, magical place for me. Lately it’s been a huge craving that I’ve been counting down the days until I can see.

But, back to the cold. Yeah, it’s C O L D! How cold is it you say? Well, when I was driving home at 8PM tonight it was 20 degrees. Now I know, 20 degrees really isn’t that cold. But, the realfeel right now is 5 degrees. Now, don’t get me wrong, 5 degrees isn’t so bad when you’re inside. But, let me tell you the other night it got down to 1 with a realfeel of -21. That, my friends, is C O L D! Now, being the brave soul I am I put on a sweatshirt over my t-shirt and buttoned up my brave suit and went outside to find out what -10 (that’s what it was at that point) really feels like. Yep, it’s C O L D! So cold that when we woke up the next morning not only had all the snow outside frozen over but there was ice INSIDE our house (on the windows) and the sliding glass door was FROZEN SHUT. But, there’s so good that goes along with that. I keep my water by the window and it stays cold all night. LOL

OK, so, I’ll be gone all next week so I probably won’t update much. Then (in case you forgot) my birthday is coming and my parents are coming up to visit. So, I’ll do my best to talk to you soon.

Till later…


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So, I’ve lived in Idaho for 7 weeks (not counting break iearly on when I was in CA for two weeks for Christmas) and I’ve experienced the weather. So, here are my thoughts and observations.

1. The temperature is all relative (moisture and wind make such a HUGE difference). It is so strange to me that 35 seems colder than 20. But, it does.

2. Snow is pretty neat, watching it fall is really fun. Walking through a freshly fallen snow is hearing it crunch under your feet is neat.

3. Driving in the snow isn’t that big of a deal, but living in a part of town that doesn’t get the roads plowed SUCKS.

4. Snowboots are a pain in the behind. Yeah, they keep your feet warm and dry. (Mine are even cute. ) But, they are a pain to put on and off. Now I know why everyone in town wears slipons. (I had to giggle today when I went downtown and realized that I had on my slip-on (backless) tennies. )

5. Jackets are also a pain. I swear it takes longer to put the dang thing on then it does to walk through most parking lots and into the store. I’ve finally given up most times. I just walk a little faster and brave the cold for the short distance into the store. (Besides, if I put it on then I have to carry the darn thing around the whole time I’m inside since you can’t wear it indoors )

So, there’s todays observations.

(We had about two inches of snow fall today…I know because the driveway and streets are still covered in it becase NO ONE PLOWS OUR STREETS! )

Till later…


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YUM!

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.


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Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion is starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed. But I don’t see that. Seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy. But it’s always there. Fathers and sons. Mothers and daughters. Husbands and wives. Boyfriends. Girlfriends. Old friends.

When the planes hit the twin towers as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge. They were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.

From the introduction to the movie Love Actually.


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